Gripper mechanism



July 12, 1932 A. .1. HoRToN 1,866,566

GRIPPER MECHANISM Filed May 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l 111.1 "l I lll."

July 12, 1932- A. J. HoRToN GRIPPER MECHANISM Filed May 28, 1950 4Sheets-Sheet 2 ////!NVE N To R July 12, 1932. A. J. HoRToN GRIPPERMECHANISM Filed May 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 12, 1932. A. J.HoRToN GRIPPER MECHANISM Y Filed May 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORPatented 4.July 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE- .ALBEBT J.HORTON, OF WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK, ASBIGNOB '.lO BfHOE 00., INC., Ol'NEW YORK, N. Y., A COBPOBATION OF NEW YORK GBIPPER IECHANISM Applicationinea nay 2s,r 1930. serial no. 456,485.

The resent invention relates to gripper mechamsm for holdin a sheet onthe periphery of a cylinder or printing or otherwise operating u on it.

Heretofore, di culty has been experienced.

lent device that is held stationary while the sheet is fed to it andthereafter accelerates the sheet to impression cylinder speed andtransfers it to grippers carried on the impression cylinder, but suchdevices have not been entirely satisfactory, as loss of registerfrequently occurs when transferring the sheet, even though the sheet ismoving at a speed that is the same as that of the impression cylinder.

The arrangement disclosed herein provides a gripper mechanism that maybe used with the usual form of sheet registering mechanism in which thesheet is held in a definite position on the feed board of the printingmachine, and in accordance with the invention, means are provided -formoving the grippers backward to engage the sheet and then to move themforward with the sheet and accelerate it to the speed of the printingcylinder before the printing operation begins.

It will be seen that this arrangement avoids the necessity fortransferring the sheet from one moving mechanism to another, and as thegripper mechanism is so arranged that the gripper seats are at rest whenthev grippers take the sheet, it is possible to obtain very accurateregister in the printing.

An object of the invention is to provide a gripper mechanism for holdina sheet on a 'rotating support, so arrange that during a portion of itscycle of operation, the mechanism will move backward to take the sheet.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gripper mechanism forholdin a sheet on a rotating support, so arranged t at durlng oneportion of its cycle of operation, it wlll move backward to take asheet, and during another portion of its cycle of operation, will moveforward and accelerate the sheet to the speed of the support.

I It 1s also an object of the invention to provide a gripper mechanismof enerally improved construction, whereby te device will beI simple,durable and inexpensive in construction, as well as convenient,practical, serviceable and eiiicient in its use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription.

proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement -ofparts, and in the details of construction hereinafter described andclaimed, it being understood that various changes in the preciseembodiment ofthe invention herein disclosed may be made within the scopeof what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the inventlon. I

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of an impression cylinder of a printingmachine in which the invention is incorporated, and showing fragments ofa cooperating form cyhnder and of a delivery cylinder, the view showingthe relative'` position of the parts after the sheet has been releasedby the gripper mechanism and taken by the grippers of the deliverycylinder;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing an end view of theimpression cylinder with a'portion of its end wall broken away, andshowing the relative position of the parts prior to the opening of thengers of the gripper mechanism to take a sheet from the feed board;

Figure 3 is a similar view in which the fingers of the gripper mechanismhave opened to take a sheet and the mechanism is moving backward;

Figure 4 shows the gripper mechanism in the position in which it is heldstationary eX- Cal cept for the motion of the gripper fingers which atthat instant? close on the sheet;

Figure shows the relative ositions of the arts when the gripper mecanism has acce erated the sheet to cylinder speed and it is about to beengaged by a plate on the form cylinder;

Figure 6 shows the relative positions of the parts when the leading endof the sheet 1s about to be transferred to the delivery cylinder;

Figure 7 is a view partly in section showing the impression cylinder,the gripper mechanism and the sheet registerin mechanism as viewed onthe line A-A of igure 4 and in the direction of the arrow; and

Figure 8 is a view of the gripper shaft and associated arts as seen inthe direction of arrow 8 of igure 4.

In the drawings,'11 indicates an impression cylinder that is secured toa shaft 12, that is arran ed to rotate in bearings 13 and 13', in siderames of a machine 1ndicated in Fi ure 7, at 14 and 14. The impressioncylin er is provided with an impression surface extending clockwise'about the cylinder from a point indicated by the numeral 15 to a pointindicated by the numeral 16, and there is an opening or gap extendingclockwise from the point 16 to the point 15. A form cylinder adapted tocarry a printing plate is indicated at 17 and a transfer cylin- .der isindicated at 18. A feed board of the usual design is shown at 19, and aportion of a registering mechanism, including stops 20 secured to ashaft 21.

The gripper mechanism that is the subject of the invention includes arms22 and 22 4rotatable on the shaft 12, and held in place by means ofcollars 23 and 23 secured to the shaft 12. The arms 22 and 22 havesecured thereto, a cross member 24 that forms va seat for gripperfingers 25 secured to a shaft 26 that is rotatable in bearings formed inthe arms 22 and 22. An arm'27 is secured to the shaft 26, and on oneend, carries a ivot pin 28, that rotatably supports the ro ler 29. Theother end of the arm 27 carries a pivot pin 31, that serves as aconnection for the head of a plunger rod 32, the opposite end of whichis slidably supported by the poppet 33 that is secured to the arm 22. Aspring 34 is mounted on the rod 32, and it will be understood, tends toturn the gripper shaft in a direction to close the gripers. p A cam 35is secured to the end wall of the cylinder 11 in position to be engagedby the inner end of the roller 29, and the cam 36 is secured to theframe 14 in position to be engaged by the outer end of the roller 29,these cams acting to open the grippers as will be hereinafter explained.

The arms 22 and 22 are extended beyond the shaft 12 and carry pivot pins37 and 37 on which one end of each of the links 3 8 and 38 are pivoted,and the opposite ends of the links rotate on pivot pins 39 and 39carried by arms 41 and 41', that are secured to a shaft 42, rotatablysupported in bearings in the cylinder 11.

The shaft 42 extends beyond the cylinder 11, and secured thereto is anarm 43, provided with a pivot pinA 44 that rotatably supports a roller45 adapted to engage a cam member 46 secured to the frame 14. The cammember 46 has an inner face 47 and an outer face 48 both of which areadapted to engage the roller 45 and affect the motion of the arms 22 and22 that carry the gripper mechanism. Register stops 49 are adjustablysecured to the cross member 24 and serve to align the edge of the sheetin roper register with the gripper mechanism, efore the gripper fingersengage it. The transfer cylinder 18 is provided with gripper fingers 51which are arranged to take the sheet after it is printed and transfer itto a delivery mechanism not shown.

In describing the operation, it is convenient to start with the positionshown in Figure 1 in which a sheet is being printed and the leading edgehas just been released by the gripper fingers 25 and has been taken bythe gripper fingers 51. It will be understood that rotation of thecylinder in the direction indicated by the arrows will result intransferring the sheet from the impression cylinder to the deliverycylinder.

The operation of opening the gripper fingers 25, at this point iseffected by the stationary cam 36, which as shown in Figure 1, acts onthe roller 29 to rotate the gripper shaft.

It will be noted that in Figure 1, the cross member 24 is closelyadjacent the point 15 on the impression cylinder. Rotation of theimpression cylinder from the position shown 1n igure 1 to the positionshown in Figure 2 results in moving the gripper mechanism forward in thecylinder gap, increasing the distance between the cross member 25 andthe point 15, so they are widely separated when the gripper fingers 25pass under the edge of the next sheet to be taken, this being effectedby the action of the cam Surface 48 on the roller 45 which results inrotating the gripper mechanism at a higher speed than the impressioncylinder during this portion of its rotation. It will be understood thatthe impression cylinder is rotated at a speed that is constantthroughout its revolution. It will be noted that in Figure 2, the roller29 is in engagement with the cam 35, and that in the position of theimpression cylinder as shown in Figure 3, the cylinder has movedforward, while the gripper seat has remained stationary and that thegripper fingers have opened. The maintenance of the grlpper seat in astationary position is effected by the contour of that portion of theinner cam face 47,

with which the roller 45 is. shown lin contact in Figure 3, and thegrippers are o ened by the action of the cam on'the rol er 29.

Rotation of the impression cylinder to .the position shown in Figure 4results 1n moving the ripper mechanism clockwise, and further bacwardwith respect to the rotation ofthe impression cylinder, then arrestingits motion, and simultaneously closing the gripper fingers 25 to engagethe sheet. It .will be understood that suitable mechanism of well knownform that is not shown, is provided to move the sheet registering arms20 out ef the path of the sheet to the position shown in Fi ure 4.

s the impression cylinder travels forward from the position shown inFigure 4 to that shown in Figure 5, the cam surface 48 acts on theroller to move the arms 22 and 22 forward and accelerate them to thespeed of the impression cylinder. The cross member 24 will then again beadjacent the po1nt15 of the impression cylinder, and the sheet inposition to be presented to the printing plate carried on the formcylinder 17. Further rotation of the impression cylinder brings it tothe position shown in Figure 6, in which the cam roller 29 is inposition to engage with the cam 36 and open the gripper fingers 25 todeliver the sheet to the transfer cylinder as shown in Figure 1, thuscompleting a cycle of operation.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that a gripper mechanismhas been provided that is supported on a rotatable carrier and arrangedto pass under a sheet held in registered position on the feed board of aprinting machine, the gripper fingers will then open slightly and thecarrier move backward and remain stationary for an instant while thegripper fingers close on the sheet, and the carrier will then moveforward with the sheet, and accelerate it to printing cylinder speed bythe time it reaches the form cylinder, thus avoiding the diiiicultyencountered in maintaining register when a sheet is taken from rest by amoving gripper mechanism or transferred from one gripper mechanism toanother while both are moving at a high rate of speed.

What I claim is:

1. In a printing machine, a rotatable impression cylinder, a rotatablegripper carrier supported coaxial with the cylinder, a gripper mechanismon the carrier, and means to rotate the carrier oppositely to therotation of the cylinder during a portion of the cylinders revolution.

2. In a printing machine, a rotatable impression cylinder, a rotatablegripper carrier supported coam'al with the cylinder, a gripper mechanismon the carrier, and means to rotate the carrier in the same direction asthe cylinder during the greater portion of the cylinders revolution, andoppositely to the rotation of the cylinder during the remainder of itsrevolution.

3. In a printing machine, registering mechanism to position a sheet inregister, an impression cylinder, a gripper carrier rotatable onbearings concentric with the axis of the cylinder, a gripper mechanismon the carrier, means to rotate the carrier oppositely to the rotationof the cylinder to take the sheet from the registered osition, and inthe same direction as the cylinder to accelerate the sheet to theperipheral speed of the cylinder. 4. In a printing machine, animpression cylinder rotatable in a forward direction at constant speed,a gripper mechanism on a rotatable carrier supported coaxially with theimpression cylinder, and means to rotate the carrier backward to take asheet and forward at a varying speed, to accelerate ihe sheet to thespeed of the impression cylin- 5. In a printing machine, a sheet supporthaving means to locate a sheet in position to be taken, a rotatableimpression cylinder, a gripper mechanism on a rotating carrier separatefrom the cylinder, means to actuate the gripper mechanism to take asheet from the support and to hold it for printing, and means forrotating the carrier backward to take a sheet, and forward at the speedof the cylinder to hold the sheet thereon.

6. In a printing machine, a sheet support having means to register asheet in position to be taken, a rotatable impression cylinder, agripper mechanism on a rotary carrier separate from the cylinder, meansto actuate the gripper mechanism to take a sheet from the support, tohold it on the cylinder, and to release it for delivery, and means forrotating the carrier backward to take a sheet, to rotate it forward atcylinder speed while holding the sheet on the cylinder, and to rotate itforward at an accelerated speed after the sheet is released.

7. In a printing machine, a sheet support, a sheet registering mechanismadapted to register a sheet on the support, a rotatable impressioncylinder, a gripper carrier rotatable around the aXis of the cylinder,and means to rotate the gripper carrier with the cylinder to hold thesheet thereon and oppositely to the cylinder to take a sheet from thesupport.

8. In a printing machine, a sheet support, means to register a sheet onthe support, a rotatable impression cylinder, grippers on a rotarycarrier supported on bearings concentric with the axis of the' cylinder,means to rotate the cylinder forward at a constant speed, means torotate the carrier forward to move the grippers past the edge of a sheeton the support, then backward into sheet engaging position, then to holdit stationary while the grippers take the sheet, and then eoA 4 Lacasseto rotate it forward at cylinder speed while the sheet is being printed.

9. In a printing machine, a sheet support, means to register a sheet onthe support, a 6 rotatable impression cylinder, grippers on a rotarycarrier supported on bearings concentric with the axis of the c linder,means to rotate the cylinder forwar at a. constant speed, means torotate the carrier forward 1G to move the grippers past the edge of asheet on the support, then backward into sheet engaging position, thento hold it stationary while the grippers take the sheet, and then torotate it forward at cylinder speed while the sheet is'being printed,and registering stops on the gripper carrier adapted to register theedge of the sheet.

10. In a printing machine, a sheet support, a sheet registerin mechanismadapted to "-0 register a sheet on t e support, a rotatable impressioncylinder, grippers on a rotary carrier rotatable around the axis of thecylinder, means to rotate the cylinder forward to move the grippers pastthe edge of a sheet on the support, then backward intowshe'et engagingposition, then to hold it stationary while the grippers take the sheet,and then to gradually accelerate it to the speed of the cylinder. 4 Intestimony whereof I atlix m signature.`

:e ALBRT J. QRTON.

